The first month of our adventure is now drawing to a close. Friday, August 28 will mark four weeks since we moved to Arkansas. Four weeks as Arkansans. Four weeks of being a full-time pastor for me, and two weeks as a full-time teacher for Brenda. God has truly blessed us in amazing ways as he sent us to our wonderful new church family. That being said, this has got to be the longest four weeks of our lives! I didn't know how right I was when I said that the logistics of moving 17 years of marriage stuff, 2 kids and a nervous dog 650 miles south would be a nightmare. We still have things we need to take care of to fully make the move.
I'll try to put things in a bit of chronological nutshell:
Friday, July 31: We arrived in Little Rock and moved in to our rented house. We had a great turn out to help us unload. A sweet couple from church brought two crock pots full of delicious stew! We ate that for days!
Saturday, August 1: Spent tons of money buying moving in stuff for the house.
Sunday, August 2: My first Sunday as Associate Pastor of Cornerstone Church of the Nazarene. I led singing for the morning service, it went well all things considered. After church they held a potluck (pitch-in) for us -- I do love Southern cooking!! They also gave us a food pounding. With all the food and Wal-Mart gift cards we were given it was an embarrassment of riches!
August 3-9: Vacation Bible School. It was a great time! I helped with the music and got to know many kids and parents. Don't EVER start your first week at a new ministry with VBS! As fun as it was, it almost killed me!
Wednesday, August 12: Brenda met with her new principal for the first time. After being hired by phone almost a month previously, it was good to meet her and see the school. Northwood Middle School is not much to look at but it is one of the best schools in the area. She is teaching 6th grade, 1/2 time literacy and 1/2 time music. I led my first worship team rehearsal that night. It was rough for a lot of reasons, but God was there and everything turned out well.
Wednesday, August 19: First day of school for Brenda and the girls. The girls are very happy in their new school. God really blessed us when he got us into the Davis Elementary school district. It is one of the highest performing schools in the state. Brenda did alright her first day, but overall she had a pretty rough week.
All in all this move has been every bit as difficult as we expected -- and more. It has been a struggle in every sense of the word. When you set out to fulfill God's calling in your life you will not go unopposed. But the blessings have FAR, FAR, FAR outweighed the struggles! We serve a mighty King whose love never fails! He continually makes our joy complete as we go through each day. We even have some funny stories (mostly about Cecily and Corinna) that I can't wait to share in future entries!
Right now we are pressing on to the the Master!
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